


Don't Forget

by Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ...sort of, Alternate Universe - College/University, It'll make sense, M/M, Major Character Injury, Not that angsty...in the beginning, confused keith, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-23 00:36:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9631931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon/pseuds/Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon
Summary: His phone vibrates, causing him to slowly turn his gaze back down to the device.Sorry, but the number you’ve contacted has either been turned off for awhile, or does not exist.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So,,,I've never written for Voltron but I've had the urge to for awhile now. Saying that, I want to apologize in advance if I mess up a character...I tried really hard to not do that but I might've without meaning to. Anyway, I got this idea during physics class and wanted to write it since then lmao. 
> 
> Also I really hope this idea hasn't been used yet??? Idk ;-;
> 
> If you read this, then thank you, it means a lot QAQ

He knows he’s awake, because he’s aware of his surroundings. The sun filtering in through the blinds, gently ghosting over his body, warming him up like he’s some cat. The soft sound of people chattering outside reach his ears. The body pressed up against his back, and the arm wrapped snuggly around his waist, holding him tightly. He’s aware of it all, and he really does not want to get up. He’s warm and comfortable, and he finds no reason to get up, or to even open his eyes.

 

The sound of something vibrating against the side table causes him to whine, shrinking in on himself. His eyes flutter open, blinking sluggishly as he blindly reaches out, fingers curling around the device. He pulls it closer to himself, blinking rapidly as he presses the power button. One message blinks up at him. 

 

_ [Unknown] _

_ Keith. Don’t forget.  _

 

Frowning in confusion, he glances behind him, where Lance is drooling all over his pillow. A soft smile tugs at his lips at the sight, and he carefully-- with a  _ lot  _ of difficulty-- pries Lance’s arm off from around his waist. Typing in his password, he pulls up the message, eyes furrowing together. 

 

Don’t forget  _ what? _ He has no classes today. Though, now that he sits on the soft bed and thinks about it, he has a strange feeling that maybe he  _ has  _ forgotten something. But what could it be? God, this will annoy him forever if he doesn’t figure it out. 

 

_ [Keith] _

_ Um, forget what? And who is this? _

 

Staring down at his phone, he lets his eyes close as he tries to think. None of his friends have gotten a new phone recently. Have they? None of them made plans with him, either. He’s never been more confused. 

 

His phone vibrates, causing him to slowly turn his gaze back down to the device. 

 

_ Sorry, but the number you’ve contacted has either been turned off for awhile, or does not exist.  _

 

Keith feels his blood run cold, eyes growing wide. The message was received a mere five minutes ago. 

 

What the hell?

 

* * *

 

The feeling that he’s forgetting something doesn’t leave him alone as the day goes on. After the strange message, he forced himself to stand up and stumble to the kitchen. It’s entirely too early for shit like that. His tired brain can’t handle pranks this early in the morning.  

 

As he makes some coffee for himself and Lance, he can’t help but think it over. The biggest tech genius he knows is Pidge, so it has to be her who did this, right? She probably teamed up with Allura, probably even Shiro. He can’t wait to see her, because he really wants to know how she pulled that off. It couldn’t of been easy. Plus, the prank worked. He’s thoroughly confused now. 

 

“Hey,” a tired voice mumbles from the doorway. Keith lifts his gaze toward the entryway, not bothering to hide the sappy smile that filters across his face. The sight of Lance with messy hair and only wearing boxers is a sight he never gets used to. 

 

“Morning,” Keith greets, holding out a mug for Lance. He gratefully takes it, tilting his head back as he chugs down the whole thing in under three minutes. Keith rolls his eyes, dodging the kiss Lance tries to place on his cheek. 

 

Lance instantly whines, reaching out for his boyfriend. Keith knows what he’s trying to do, though, so he chuckles and takes another step back. Lance simply huffs, pout on his face as he collapses forward. He knows Keith will catch him, and he’s proven right as pale arms wrap around his waist, catching him before he hits the ground. 

 

“You’re a pest,” Keith mutters. 

 

Lance grins, leaning forward to capture Keith’s lips in a gentle kiss. Keith lets it happen, getting distracted as Lance stands to his full height. 

 

It’s completely ruined as Lance reaches behind Keith, grabbing mug that’s supposed to be for Keith. He slides away, bringing to mug to his lips and chugging it all down in one go. 

 

“Lance, what the fuck,” Keith hisses, crossing his arms. 

 

He fucking knew this would happen. 

 

* * *

 

Sliding into the booth, Keith grabs the menu, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. Hunk smiles in greeting, instantly hitting up a conversation with Lance. As the two rope Coran and Allura into the debate, Keith slides his gaze over to the youngest of their friend group.

 

“Hey, Pidge?” He says, instantly catching her attention. She seems way too pleased to have an excuse to not listen to whatever the other’s are talking about.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“How did you do that thing this morning? With the message you sent?”

 

Pidge frowns, as if she’s trying to think of what he’s talking about. When nothing comes to mind, she tilts her head and shrugs. “No idea what you’re talking about, if I’m being honest.”

 

“...The message?” Keith says, reaching into his pocket. Pidge patiently waits as he types in the password, tapping on the message icon. He pulls up the earliest conversation, turning it around to show Pidge. “See?”

 

Pidge rolls her eyes. “I really don’t want to know what you and Lance talk about.”

 

“Wha--?” Keith blinks, turning the device back to himself. Indeed, instead of the strange message, it’s his conversation with Lance. He feels his face heat up. Quickly exiting that conversation, he goes back to the list of contacts he has. 

 

The message is gone. 

 

“But--!  _ How--  _ I--”

 

“You were probably too tired to realize what it was,” Pidge says, trying not to show how amused she is. 

 

“No, it was...it…” He trails off, hopelessly sagging his shoulders. He never deleted the conversation, and he  _ knows  _ he didn’t imagine it. 

 

“Are you feeling okay?” Pidge decides to ask, leaning over the table, gaining the attention from the others. She places a hand to Keith’s forehead, humming in thought. “You seem a little warm.”

 

“Are you not feeling okay? Why didn’t you tell me?” Lance instantly asks, worry flickering in his eyes. 

 

“If you need to go rest, we understand,” Shiro comments. 

 

“We can always get together again, so you won’t miss anything!” Hunk adds. 

 

Keith hesitates, nervously looking away. Maybe he  _ is  _ sick? Imagining things, possibly hallucinating? Those are signs that he’s not okay, right?

 

“I’m fine,” he says, earning multiple different looks of disbelief.

 

“Keith,” Shiro says, his voice tinged with that sternness he gets when he’s about to scold one of them. 

 

Keith glares. “Don’t even start,” he warns. 

After another five minutes of slight arguing, they decide to let it slide. Lance still seems worried, glancing over at Keith every now and then as he continues to talk to Hunk and Coran. That’s when they get their drinks, Keith instantly relaxing. 

 

Hot chocolate is the perfect way to relax. He knows he has to study tonight for some quiz tomorrow for math, and he’s nowhere near prepared. Yay for procrastination. This is his only slice of freedom for the next week, and goddamnit, he’s going to enjoy every moment of it. 

 

He pulls the mug closer to him, smiling to himself. He goes to blow on it to cool it down, but freezes. On the whipped cream, somehow written in chocolate syrup, it says  _ dn’t frget.  _

 

He knows he isn’t seeing things. This  _ can’t  _ be a coincidence. It’s kind of hard to actually see, but it’s there. Easy enough to read and understand it. 

 

Lifting his gaze, he glares. “What kind of prank is this?”

 

The others all freeze, turning to him in confusion. Grabbing his mug, he makes sure the words are actually there before pushing it to the middle of the table. He waits, watching as they all study the drink before looking back at him. 

 

“What, um, are we looking at?” Hunk questions, laughing nervously at Keith’s expression. 

 

“It does seem like there’s less whipped cream then normal, if that’s what you mean!” Coran says. 

 

Keith feels his eyebrow twitch. He quickly stands up. “Don’t you see?!” He snaps, looking down at the drink. 

 

He audibly gulps. The words are gone, replaced by a normal zig-zag pattern. Slowly sitting back down, he looks at the table with confusion. 

 

What the fuck?

 

What the  _ actual fuck? _

 

“You know what? Maybe I am feeling a bit under the weather,” he says, digging out his wallet. He pulls out enough money for the hot chocolate, handing it to Lance before shoving the wallet back in his pocket. Standing up, he doesn’t bother to say goodbye as he stalks out of the small cafe. 

 

He has no idea what’s wrong with him today. 

 

* * *

 

Setting his head down on his desk, he groans. The lines of his empty notebook are starting to blur together, and he isn’t sure how long he’s been at this. His creative writing class is usually so easy, so he isn’t sure why he’s suddenly hitting a block. Sitting up straight, he squints as he finds a sticky note on the next page of his journal. 

 

He wants to scream. Written in big block letters, and in sharpie, it says  _ Don’t forget, Keith.  _ Grumbling angrily under his breath, he grabs his phone where it’s resting on his desk. Lifting it up, he quickly snaps a photo, making sure to see that it’s the same after taking it. 

 

Seeing as it is, he sighs in relief. He doesn’t need his friends to think he’s crazy anymore than they already do, and there’s no way to tamper with a photo. 

 

The door squeals open, causing him to look away from the phone screen. Lance pokes his head into the living room, eyes landing on his boyfriend. His blue eyes light up as he skips up to him, looking down at what he’s working on. “Having difficulties?”

 

Keith glances at his blank journal. “Um, yeah, but here!” He says quickly, handing Lance his phone. “Look, I’m not going crazy!”

 

Lance takes a moment to study to photo. He purses his lips and strokes his chin. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but yeah, I can see why you’re having so much trouble. Happiest moment? Please, you’re dating _ me!  _ Your happiest moment is every day, so it’s understandable that you’re having problems picking just one thing.” 

 

“Uh, what…” Keith says, quickly grabbing his phone back. On the photo of the sticky note, the message changed. Instead of the repeating message he’s been getting all day, it’s a message reminding him of what the theme for his next writing piece is to be centered around. Jaw dropping, he flips his page back over, looking down at the sticky note. It has changed as well. 

 

“I think I’m going insane,” he whispers. 

 

Lance laughs at that, bending down to kiss his forehead. “You do feel a bit warm, why don’t you call it a night?”

 

Keith frowns, which only makes Lance chuckle again. He ruffles Keith’s hair, shooing him towards the bedroom. 

 

“But I still need to study…”

 

“Nope! Not when you’re sick and hallucinating you don’t!”

 

“I’m  _ not--”   _ He cuts himself off, hesitating. That’s the only logical explanation. He just...needs to sleep. Sleeping will clear his head and make him feel better. “Okay, you’re right.”

 

Lance’s lips twitch into a smirk, and he dramatically places a hand to his chest. “Is Keith Kogane admitting that I, Lance McClain, is right?”

 

Keith glares. “I’ll kick you.”

 

Lance snorts at that, causing Keith to roll his eyes. “Go to bed, you loser.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.”

 

“Good, And Keith?”

 

“Hm?” Keith says in reply, hand resting on the doorknob to the bedroom. 

 

“Love you,” Lance sing-songs. 

 

Keith smiles, rolling his eyes again. “Love you, too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Voltron tumblr: alien-space-mom


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me @ Me: work on things you've been neglecting for weeks   
> Me @ Me: Or I could, you know. Work on this. 
> 
> So for some reason this story has really helped me get out of my writing funk?? I got excited and wrote this chapter and some of chapter three...and I'm really impatient and did not want to wait to update because I'm just like that I'm sorry (not that people care if I update this early? I don't think?)
> 
> Anyway I am very iffy about this because idk if I'm doing this plot justice or not, but my friend said that she likes it so I trust her.

A piercing pain pulses through his veins. The pain forms from his stomach, spreading out like a wildfire. He sits up in bed, throat hoarse as if he’s been screaming. There’s suddenly hands on his shoulders, shaking him, and he desperately looks around, dark eyes locking onto blue ones. He pants, calming down slowly as Lance brings him closer, gently rocking them back and forth. 

 

“Ssh,” he whispers, tangling a tan hand into Keith’s hair so he can gently run his fingers through his soft locks. Even after Keith calms down, Lance stays where he is, arms locked around his boyfriend’s waist. 

 

Their door flies open a moment later, Pidge and Hunk storming in. Hunk has a metal baseball bat in his hand, eyes wide and alert. Pidge’s hair is a mess, glasses nearly slipping off her nose. She holds a golf club tightly in her grasp. 

 

“What happened?! I could heard Keith from down the hall!” Hunk gasps, setting the bat down. Pidge mumbles under her breath, sighing heavily. 

 

“God, it sounded like you were getting  _ murdered!” _

 

Lance laughs, finally letting go of Keith so that he can turn to their friends. “We’re fine, but thanks for the concern.”

 

Keith watches them talk for a moment, taking a shaky breath. Gently, he places a hand to his stomach. It feels like he was  _ stabbed _ . He has no idea what the heck just happened. Lifting his hand to his face, he sees no blood, and one look shows no sign of injury. 

 

He feels like shit. 

 

“So?”

 

Keith looks at Hunk, eyebrows raised. “Huh?”

 

“What happened to make you scream bloody murder?”

 

Face flushing a deep red, Keith awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. He feels really bad for waking up his friends-- and probably the whole apartment complex-- with some...dream? Nightmare? He has no idea what it was. 

 

“Ah...nightmare, I’m sorry…”

 

Hunk waves a hand, yawning. “It’s fine, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

 

“Yeah, in the end, that’s all that matters!” Pidge says. “Now, I still have two hours till class, so...I’m going to go back to sleep. I’m stealing your couch.”

 

“Your room is right across the hall.”

 

“Too far!” Pidge says, slipping out the door. Hunk and Lance openly laugh at that, Hunk waving goodbye before he takes his leave as well. 

 

Once they leave, Lance turns back to Keith, frowning. “Do you remember what it was about? I’ve never seen you freak out so much before.”

 

Keith frowns, shaking his head. He wants to explain that it wasn’t  _ really _ a dream. At least, he doesn’t think it was. He just...the pain felt so  _ real… _

 

“I got stabbed.”

 

Lance raises an eyebrow. 

 

“I...don’t know why, but,” he pauses, placing a hand to his stomach again. “The pain felt real, and I- I can still feel it. It’s...really weird.”

 

Lance shuffles forward a bit, leaning over to place a hand to Keith’s cheek. He smiles softly, bumping their noses together. “I’m glad you really didn’t get stabbed, then. I’m glad you’re okay.”

 

Keith laughs, doing his best to ignore the pain that seems all too real as he tilts his head to connect their lips. 

 

Yeah, he’s glad it’s not real, either.

 

* * *

 

It takes a lot for him to get out of bed that morning. The moment he stands up, the imaginary pain gets all too real again. He nearly doubles over from the intensity of it. In the end, he downs a couple of painkillers and hopes for the best. He isn’t allowed to miss classes, not today. He has a quiz in math, and he really needs to finish that creative writing piece. They also started a new unit in his science class, so he can’t miss any notes for that. 

 

College is really fucking stressful. 

 

“Have fun in class, babe,” Lance says, grinning smugly. The lucky bastard has no classes today. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try,” he says, placing a quick kiss to his cheek before slipping out the door. He quickly makes his way through the campus, having to leave a whole fifteen minutes early just to make it to class. Of course his class would be all the way across campus. Just his luck. 

 

The only fun thing about class is having Hunk with him. It’s nice not having to be alone in class. 

 

“Oh, hey, you actually came,” Hunk says in surprise, smiling as Keith settles down next to him. 

 

“Well, I can’t miss class.”

 

“I could’ve taken notes for you.”

 

“But you can’t take a quiz for me, now can you?”

 

Hunk chuckles at that, gently patting Keith’s back in sympathy. “You’ll do fine.”

 

* * *

 

Keith half expects some weird ass message to show up on his drink again the next time he goes out with someone. Shiro sits across from him, raising an eyebrow as Keith glares at his drink. Hesitantly, he pulls the mug forward, gazing down at the chocolate syrup. Thankfully, it’s in it’s normal zigzag pattern. No weird message, thank god. 

 

Bringing the drink up to his lips, he squeezes his eyes close as the pain from his stomach becomes evident again. Gritting his teeth, he forces his eyes open and takes a small sip of his drink. 

 

“You okay there?” Shiro asks, not bothering to hide his concern. 

 

“I’m fine, Shiro.”

 

Shiro frowns, taking a sip of his own drink. They have a mini staring contest, both of them refusing to back down for what seems to be ages. Shiro’s phone buzzes, though, making him tear his gaze away. Keith smiles in victory. 

 

“Allura wants to meet up, is it okay if I go?”

 

Keith takes another hesitant sip of his drink, lip jutting out into a pout. “Yeah, yeah, go hang out with your girlfriend.”

 

“You know I can tell her no? She’ll understand.”

 

Keith waves his hand, smiling reassuringly. He hangs out with Shiro a lot, so it isn’t a big deal for him to leave their daily hang out session a little early. “Go, Shiro. I’m probably going to head back to my dorm soon, anyway.”

 

Shiro’s face morphs into a soft expression, concern swirling in his eyes. “It’s okay if you don’t feel well, you know that, right?”

 

Keith scowls, pulling his now half empty mug closer to him. He looks away. “I know, but nothing’s wrong,” he glances back to his friend, rolling his eyes. “I’m serious, Shiro.” 

 

Standing up, Shiro leans over to ruffle Keith’s hair. “Alright, if you say so. See you tonight?”

 

Keith nods numbly, masking his confusion as Shiro takes his leave. Are they doing something tonight? Oh, god, is that what he’s been forgetting? Maybe his mind has been telling him to not forget whatever’s happening tonight. He better ask Lance about this later. 

 

Sinking down in his seat, he looks back over at his hot chocolate. Groaning in frustration, he stands up, downing the rest of it before throwing his bag over his shoulder. He waves towards Shay, one of the workers manning the counter, before slipping out of the small cafe and making his way back toward the dorm room. 

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Lance?” Keith says as he opens the door, walking in. He drops his bag by the door, wincing as he remembers his laptop. It’ll be fine...probably. Shaking his head, he walks into the living room, not even surprised that both Hunk and Pidge are there. 

 

Lance doesn’t look away from the video game they’re playing, and instead calls over his shoulder. “Yeah, light of my life?”

 

Keith snorts, rolling his eyes. “Do we have plans tonight?”

 

At that, Lance pauses the game, turning to him with confusion plastered to his features. Even Hunk and Pidge turn away to raise an eyebrow. 

 

“Um, yeah? We have that friendship dinner thing we always have every month. This one is ‘unmissable’ because Coran got a good job and is taking us all out for a really nice dinner. Did you forget?”

 

Keith blinks. He doesn’t remember  _ ever  _ having ‘friendship dinners’ every month. He must be really out of it. But don’t they have lunch together like, almost every weekend? Why do they need these monthly dinners, anyway?

 

“Oh,” he coughs, nervously scratching his cheek. He’s been silent for too long. “So, basically, we’re celebrating Coran’s new job?”

 

“Yeah,” Pidge answers for Lance, “I can’t believe you forgot. It’s all Coran has been talking about.”

 

Keith nods slowly, frowning slightly. His mind must’ve been feeling guilty for not remembering, and was trying to just jot his memory. That explains everything that happened yesterday. 

 

“Sorry for forgetting,” he mumbles, making his way to the bedroom. “I’m going to take a nap before we go.”

 

He gets three different mumbles, showing that they heard him. Once the door is closed, he collapses face first on to the bed and groans. 

 

This dinner thing explains the messages, but it doesn’t explain the pain blossoming violently in his abdomen. 

 

* * *

 

Coran is way too happy to pay for all their meals. He chatters excitedly the whole time, diving into stories of his new co-workers. They all listen and laugh, enjoying their time together. College is stressful and annoying, so times like this are always treasured. 

 

Coran is the oldest of their friend group, having graduated college two years ago. Allura and him are cousins, best friends their whole life. Two years of Coran being in college and Allura starting her first, Allura met Shiro. Shiro happened to be friends with Keith, and Keith friends with Pidge. Pidge was friends with Hunk and Lance. One thing lead to another, and they all got together and met. Keith can’t remember exactly  _ how  _ it happened, but they all got along and enjoyed each other’s company. For the most part. And thus, their friendship group was born. 

 

Keith smiles as Coran excitedly talks. He picks up his menu, eyes scanning the many options. Only, once his mind catches up to what’s happening, his blood runs cold. Every single item is replaced with his name. The descriptions are all the same, too. He flips the page, only to find the same thing there as well. 

 

_ Keith _

_ I miss you  _

 

Over and over and over again. With shaky hands, he flips through every page of the menu, finding  _ every single page _ to repeat the same phrase. He knows that if he looks away, the words will disappear. He knows that if he tries to show someone else, it’ll go away. He doesn’t want to ruin Coran’s special night, anyway, that wouldn’t be fair. 

 

Right as that thought crosses his mind, the familiar pain from that morning flickers back to life, crawling through his stomach. He gulps, hands shaking as he sets the menu down. The words stare up at him, the pain rolling through his veins rapidly. He feels his breathing pick up, panic settling deep within his bones. 

 

Standing up, chair screeching against the ground, he chokes out some excuse about the restroom and bolts before Lance or anyone else can stop him. He’s never moved so fast, slipping into the room and straight to the sink. Hands reaching out, he grips onto the smooth surface of the sink, heart beating erratically. He has no idea why he’s reacting this way. It’s just some prank. Either that, or he’s seeing things. Probably sick. There’s no reason to react the way he is. 

 

The thing is, he can’t help it. He can’t block the feeling that he really  _ is  _ forgetting something truly important. All these strange messages...it’s just his mind. It has to be….but then why can’t he believe himself?

 

Reaching out, he turns the faucet on. Leaning over the sink, he splashes the freezing cold water on his face. It instantly calms him, and he lets his eyes flutter close. Taking deep breaths, his shoulders relax, his heartbeat slowly calming itself. 

 

The door squeaks open, causing Keith to turn toward the noise. Shiro smiles a bit awkwardly, walking up to him. Keith has to admit, he’s surprised it wasn’t Lance who came after him. 

 

“Hey, you okay?” Shiro asks in that tone of voice that shows that he knows something’s up, a wary smile settling across his face. 

 

Keith runs a now steady hand through his hair, looking away. “I’m fine.”

 

“Are you? You ran off pretty fast. Lance is pretty worried.”

 

Keith bites his lip, guilt washing over him. He sighs heavily and crosses his arms. “Sorry, I’ve just...been feeling under the weather for the past couple of days.”

 

“Ah, yeah, I could tell. Maybe you should head back and sleep early?”

 

Keith scowls at that, shrinking in on himself. “I slept early yesterday, plus, not tonight. It’s Coran’s night.”

 

Nodding, Shiro opens the door again, not knowing what else to say. He jerks his head to the side, motioning for Keith to follow him. Keith hesitates, taking a look at himself in the mirror. He quickly wipes his face with his hoodie sleeve, not bothering to dry the few wet strands of hair that got wet. Slowly, he follow Shiro back to the table, wordlessly sitting back down next to Lance. 

 

He mouths a  _ ‘later’ _ to Lance, smiling apologetically. Lance simply beams back, his hand finding Keith’s under the table. He tangles their fingers together, looking over at Pidge as she rambles on about some science project she’s working on. 

 

Keith lets out a small sigh. He’ll be okay. If this... _ thing _ isn’t gone by the time the week ends, then he’ll go to the doctor. Gently squeezing Lance's hand in thanks, he looks up, clearing his throat as he joins the conversation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I'm not being obvious about the plot but I am trying im sorry if I'm being really obvious grkhaoihorehroekdfhhh
> 
> Tumblr: alien-space-mom


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should stop updating so fast but honestly I'm not sorry for doing so,,  
> I also already have chapter four typed up so I'll most likely update again tomorrow because I'm impatient ;-;  
> Maybe if I can stop myself, I'll wait till Monday to post it.....who knows.  
> Anyway I hope you like this chapter bc I enjoyed writing it

Keith wakes up to an empty bed, a note next to his phone. He hesitates before lifting it, scared to see what it says. He sighs in relief when he finds a scribbled message about having an early class from Lance that he forgot about. 

 

Sitting up, Keith yawns, swiping his phone off the table. He beat his alarm by a couple minutes, and right as he picks it up, the loud ringing fills the room. He quickly turns it off, swiping the device open and pulling up his messages. 

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_ Wanna go to the arcade later??? _

 

_ [Keith] _

_ Don’t you have class? I have class as well.  _

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_ I didnt mean rn you doofus _

_ I meant after class duh  _

_ I only have one class today anyway  _

 

_ [Keith] _

_ Sure _

_ I finish my last class at 3? _

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_!!! Great !! _

_ Im gonna beat ur ass at every game (: _

 

_ [Keith] _

_ Ha, you wish, pipsqueak.  _

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_ I cant wait for you to choke on tht ego of urs mr. texas boy  _

 

_ [Keith] _

_ I can’t wait till you find out that I’m better at video games than you.  _

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_ Have u??? Ever beat me at a video game?? _

 

_ [Keith] _

_ You’re forgetting that you’re talking to me, not Lance.  _

_ I’ve beat you plenty of times.  _

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_ Fuck _

_ Ur right, texas boy.  _

 

_ [Keith] _

_ Language, child.  _

 

_ [Pidge (Green Bean)] _

_ Stfu _

 

Keith laughs to himself, setting his phone aside. The conversation lasted longer than he meant for it to, so he’s running a bit behind on schedule. He stumbles into the kitchen, smiling as he sees a mug of coffee waiting for him. It’s most likely cold by now, but Lance obviously made it for him, so he pops it into the microwave. While it heats up, he changes and grabs his bag. By the time he’s ready to make the trek to his English class, the microwave beeps. He downs in quickly, setting the mug gently in the sink-- he’d cry if he broke it, seeing as how it was a gift from Lance-- and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. 

 

He runs to the restroom, brushing his teeth and taking a look in the mirror. It’s too early for this, and he’s running late, so he gathers his hair with his hands and ties it up with a ponytail. He has no time for anything else, so he races to the door, making sure to grab his keys before exiting the apartment. There’s really no reason to lock the door, because only students come to and from, but he does it anyway just to be safe. 

 

Bolting down the sidewalk, he nearly doubles over in pain as he reaches the classroom. He blames the pace he was running at for the pain surrounding his abdomen, and slides into his seat, catching his breath as the teacher walks in. 

 

He places his head on the table, wrapping his arms around his stomach. It’s just from the run. Probably. 

 

* * *

 

Picking up his phone as it rings, Keith slips into the normal cafe they all frequent. He clears his throat, holding the device with his shoulder and ear as he digs into his pocket for his wallet. Lance’s voice floats out, instantly causing him to smile. 

 

_ “Keiiiith,  _ Pidge told me you guys are going to the arcade soon! Is this true?!”

 

Keith chuckles as he places his wallet back in his pocket, scooting up the line slowly. “Yeah, she asked me this morning.” He then hesitates, nervously biting his lip. “That’s okay, right? We had nothing planned?” He asks, glancing up at the sign that has all the drink orders scribbled out. He nearly chokes on his own spit as he finds the same message from last night on the menu up on the board. He looks around, voices drowning out as panic settles in. One look around shows that  _ no one else  _ sees what he sees. 

 

As if life hates him, the pain from before builds up in his stomach, the stingy taste of bile crawling up the back of his throat. He takes a step back, nearly running into the person behind him. He mumbles out an apology, eyes moving to the counter. He’s next in line. He takes one look at Shay before turning around and bolting. 

 

She’ll probably ask Hunk about this and then Hunk will come to him with questions, but that’s a problem for later. 

 

As he exits the cafe and makes his way down the sidewalk, he realizes Lance hasn’t stopped talking the whole time. Shoving his money into his pocket, he tunes back into the conversation. 

 

“--Yeah, so Hunk decided that our project would be about nature. Original, I know, but we ran out of ideas and it’s due in like, two days, and I really wish I could come with you and Pidge, but Hunk is very insistent that we go ahead and get a start on it and--”

 

Keith laughs, stopping at a corner. The sound of Lance rambling calms his nerves, making him relax. “It’s fine, Lance. Pidge and I haven’t hung out together in a while, anyway, so it’ll be nice.”

 

“Ugh, well, you better get me a stuffed animal.”

 

“What?”

 

“You know, from those crane games? Win me something.”

 

Keith hums, stepping into the road as the light turns green. “No promises.”

 

Lance whines at that. Then there’s more voices in the background, Lance mumbling something to someone on the other side. He then clears his throat, sighing heavily. “I got to go, but I wanted to hear your voice since I apparently won’t see you until tonight.”

 

Keith feels his face flush, and he nervously looks around. No one’s looking or paying attention to him, so that’s good. “Yeah, yeah, I missed your annoyingly nice voice as well.”

 

Lance sputters at that, laughing. “I can’t tell if that was a compliment or not!” 

 

“Figure it out.”

 

He can practically see Lance rolling his eyes at that. “Alright, smart boy. I really do need to get going, though. Love you~” He says. 

 

“I love you, too,” Keith says into the phone, looking around again. Lance says something else he doesn’t catch before hanging up. 

 

Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Keith frowns. He still has about forty-five minutes until Pidge shows up...so maybe it won’t be too bad if he’s there a tad bit early. Pidge won’t need to know. 

 

* * *

 

Pidge comes jogging into the arcade, panting. She places her hands on her knees, catching her breath. “I’m so sorry I’m late! Do you know how hard it is to get through those crowds?!”

 

Keith’s lips twitch into an amused smile. “Maybe it’s because of your hei--?”

 

Pidge slaps a hand over his mouth, eyes narrowing. “If you value your life, you won’t finish that sentence,” she warns, slowly taking her hand back. 

 

Keith rolls his eyes. 

 

“Good,” Pidge says, clapping her hands together. “Now, you didn’t wait too long, now did you?” 

 

Keith shakes his head, not wanting her to feel bad that he has been waiting for about fifty minutes. Pidge smiles at the fact that she seemingly didn’t make her friend wait up, so she grabs his wrist and yanks him to his feet. He makes some startled noise at the sudden movement, gritting his teeth as it causes the pain to resurface once again. Luckily, Pidge doesn’t seem to notice as she dives into the crowd of people in the arcade. 

 

The rest of the day is spent with them screaming at each other during every single game. The shooting games are the best, their team work for finishing each level spot on. They work surprisingly well together. 

 

Pidge tugs him over to a game in the back, inserting the right amount of money before Keith can stop her. He picks up the plastic red gun, Pidge picking up the green one next to it. He furrows his eyebrows in confusion at that, tilting his head to the side. Aren’t these games usually blue and red? Or even black? He’s not sure he’s ever seen that shade of green for a video game. 

 

Shaking the thought away, he focuses on the video game screen. Some weird purple cat-like villain pops up. The game spouts out facts, explaining something about the Galra species. He freezes at the name, eyes growing wide as he stares at the character. His name is...Zarkon? Zack? Something with a z, and he’s the main villain for the game’s plot. 

 

He frowns, trying to figure out where he’s heard that name before. Sighing, he lifts the plastic gun up, Pidge doing the same. He blinks, and suddenly the game changes. 

 

Surprised, he instantly dies, Pidge spitting out a curse of shock. “Keith! We were on a  _ roll! _ ” 

 

“Sorry, sorry. Got distracted.” 

 

Pidge pouts, but turns back to the game that’s not what it was a mere moment ago. Instead, there’s normal cliche aliens on the screen. Green and bug-eyed. The plot is completely different as well. One glance at Pidge’s gun shows that instead of it being green like it was at the beginning, it’s now blue. 

 

Keith inhales shakily, lifting his gun back up as his character revives. He’s thoroughly confused, and just slightly concerned. How could his eyesight fail him this much?

 

Once the game ends-- both of them coming out victorious-- Pidge places her hands on her hips. “You owe me something now.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, Keith looks around the bright arcade. Games flash violently in every direction, the sounds from them and the people playing them making it hard to hear. He turns back to his friend. “Why do I owe you anything?”

 

“Because,” she yells over the crowd, turning to lead the way through the many people, “you got distracted and made us lose points!”

 

Rolling his eyes, Keith lets Pidge lead him to one of the crane games. He instantly remembers Lance’s words from earlier. He knows Lance was just kidding around, but…

 

“I’m going to win two,” He says, a determined look filtering through his features. The crane game is filled with stuffed lions of many colors. There’s green, which he’ll try to get for Pidge, and blue for Lance. He  _ would  _ try to get one for every single person in their friend group, but frankly, he’s a poor college student and this will already make a huge dent in his savings. But it’ll be worth it. 

 

Sliding the right amount of coins into the game, he glances at Pidge. She places both hands on the clear plastic, wide eyes glued to the fluffy green lion. Keith moves the controls, tongue sticking out as he makes it hover perfectly right over the lion. Right as he makes the claw drop, he double takes as the lions change right in front of him. 

 

Instead of fluffy, innocent lions, they now look more robotic. The green one that the claw curls around is now white and green, looking more like something you’d have to buy for a lot of money then something that belongs in a simple crane game. Plus, it doesn’t look fluffy or soft at all anymore.

 

As the claw picks up the lion, the designs flicker away, turning back to normal. Keith decides to not mention it, because it’s obvious Pidge didn’t see the change. He’s only  _ slightly  _ freaking out, and he pushes the panic away as the claw shakes, wobbily moving towards the drop off. Pidge gasps, grabbing Keith’s sleeve in excitement. She hops up and down on her toes, biting her lip anxiously as the stuffed toy gets closer. 

 

It then hits the plastic wall, falling on the opposite side of the hole. Pidge actually  _ wails _ , and Keith stares with wide eyes. They were  _ so close.  _

 

“I’m trying again,” he says, inserting more money. He’s going to get that damn lion if it’s the last thing he does. 

 

* * *

 

Pidge skips down the hallway, a huge grin on her face. She clutches her new toy in her arms, not ashamed to show how much she loves it. Keith can’t help but smile fondly at the sight. Pidge is one of his best friends, and he likes to see his friends happy. Though, he would never say that outloud. 

 

Once they reach Keith’s room, Pidge turns to Keith with a wide smile. “Lance is going to love it,” she assures. Keith looks down at the blue lion in his hands, the image of the robotic one flashing into his mind. It looked... _ really _ familiar for some reason. Shaking his head, he smiles over at Pidge. There’s no reason to think too hard about it, because it’s probably from a show Lance is in to. 

 

“He better,” Keith says, nodding as Pidge turns to her room, the one right across from their own. She pauses, turning around to frown. 

 

“I know you haven’t been feeling well lately, so thanks for hanging out with me.”

 

Keith rolls his eyes. “You don’t need to thank me for that, Pidge,” he says, opening their door. He knows Lance is home, so he knows the door wouldn’t be locked. Lance is horrible about remembering to do that. “See you tomorrow.”

 

Pidge yawns out a goodnight, disappearing into her room. Keith walks into his own dorm room, making an embarrassed squeaking noise as he’s instantly wrapped into a huge hug. He blushes as he’s set down, hands curling tightly around the blue lion. Before Lance can say anything, he shoves it into his arms. 

 

Lance blinks, then laughs. “You actually got me something! You didn’t have to.”

 

Keith looks away, huffing in annoyance. “Well, I did. Deal with it.”

 

“Well, I love it, so thank you,” Lance says, smiling down at the lion. He then leans over, lifting a hand to Keith’s forehead. Keith jerks in surprise, raising an eyebrow. “You still seem a bit hot, you should head to bed.”

 

Keith glares. 

 

“I mean, you’re  _ always  _ hot, man, but you get what I mean.”

 

Not bothering to hide his amused smile, Keith nods. There’s no need to argue with Lance. It  _ is  _ late, and he does have math again tomorrow. He’ll need to be extra ready to see if he passed his quiz or not. 

 

“Okay, but you can’t bring the animal to bed with us.”

 

Lance gasps, hugging his new stuffed animal to his chest. “How dare you talk to our child like that.”

 

“Child? It’s a stuff--”

 

“ _ She _ , Keith. Our child is a she!”

 

“Okay, well,  _ she-- _ ”

 

“Her name is Blue, god, don’t you care about our daugher at all?”

 

Keith gives him an unimpressed look. “You’re so creative with names.”

 

Lance simply laughs, setting the lion down on the counter. “Alright, I won’t bring her to bed with us.”

  
Keith shakes his head, following Lance into the room. As they both change and get ready to sleep, Keith forgets to ask about the robotic lions and the strange purple cat aliens. It slips his mind completely as Lance slides into bed after him, shit eating grin on his face as he holds Blue in between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not to spoil or anything but in the next chapter, ~things~ are revealed,,, 
> 
> Tumblr; alien-space-mom


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to @russiansunflower3 for reading all of these for me and for telling me if it's bad or not. You're the real mvp bro.

Nothing changes the next couple of days. He continues to find weird messages, and odd robotic lions pop up every now and again. Even the purple cat aliens show up again. The pain in his stomach is a reoccurring thing, showing up at random times and then fading out only to come back twice as strong. He can't lie and say it doesn't hurt, because it hurts a  _ whole lot.  _ He just grows accustomed to it, and works around it, making sure not to make any sudden moves or to run or walk for long periods at a time. 

 

He went to Allura on the fourth day. Seeing as how she's working to become a doctor, he decides that it's cheaper to visit a friend for free then to waste money on a doctor. She questioned him about symptoms, and when asked about what he sees, he swiftly lies and makes up things. They don't need to know the truth.

 

She tells him it's probably the stomach bug that's currently going around. Many students have caught it and complained about stomach aches. Allura smiles and suggests he stay home for a day, just to see if it'll help. 

 

Of course, he ignored her (which earned him a disappointed look from Shiro). On the sixth day, Hunk asked about the day at the cafe. He tells him what Shay told him, and that seemed to be the last straw for the friend group. 

 

Lance forces him to stay in the next day. He's not allowed out of the dorm room, and he has to rest. Keith tries to argue, but one worried look from Lance has him shutting up. He hates worrying people,  _ especially  _ Lance. The only thing that made the day somewhat enjoyable is that Pidge and Lance give them his lions for the day. 

 

(“You're going to babysit our children, Keith,” Pidge had said, stern look plastered to her face. “If I find anything wrong with her when I return, then I'll personally have your head on a silver platter before the sun rises.” And, well, Pidge  _ is  _ kind of scary, so of course he took good care of them.) 

 

He has to admit, the lions are pretty soft. Nice to cuddle with, too, but Pidge and Lance don't need to know that he actually took a very long nap with both of the stuffed animals. 

 

(Apparently, it didn't even matter if he told them or not. Hunk came by with Shiro to check up on him and found him passed out on the couch, two stuffed lions wrapped in his arms. Multiple pictures were sent to the group chat. Keith had never felt so betrayed. He felt even more embarrassed when Lance came home, proudly showing that he changed his background to one of the photos. Keith wanted to die.)

 

That’s how he finds himself the next day, nearly having a heart attack when he sees the time. Lance turned off his alarm, making him miss his first class, leaving a rushed note explaining what he did so Keith wouldn’t be confused. Apparently his friends really think he needs another day to get better. 

 

He rolls over, head pounding. Groaning quietly, he reaches out to turn his phone off. He just needs to survive today, and then he'll have the rest of the week for whatever he wants to do. He should’ve gone to class instead of sleeping in. Stupid Lance. 

 

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he groans again, leaning his head forward to drop it into his hands. He massages his forehead, whining pitifully. Maybe he  _ should  _ go see a doctor. There’s no harm in that, right?

 

Bracing himself, he rises shakily to his feet. Vision swimming, he pulls on some sweats and a t-shirt, grabbing Lance’s jacket as well. Pulling it on, he puts his phone in the jacket pocket, taking a step out of the room. He nearly falls over, making a noise of surprise. Blinking rapidly, he somehow stumbles to the front door. 

 

This may not be the best idea he’s ever had. Especially since this sickness seems to have gotten worse throughout the night. 

 

Opening the door, he makes his way out of the dorm room. Letting the door clang shut, he forgets to lock it as he places a hand against the wall, truding toward the elevator. It takes awhile to get there, seeing as how he takes his time, trying not to upset his head anymore. The pounding seems to get worse with every step. 

 

Entering the elevator, he leans against the wall, eyes slipping shut. He only opens them when the doors slide open on the next level. Some girl gets on, and when he looks in the distance, he sees Shiro and Allura making their way toward the elevator. 

 

“Hold the doo-! Keith?” Allura says. Keith quickly punches the close button, letting the door shut on them. He really does not want them to worry about him, because he has this. He can make it to the clinic by himself. He’s very capable. 

 

The girl who got on stifles her laugh, but doesn’t comment and instead types on her phone. He vaguely recognizes her as Nyma from one of his classes, but his brain is too out of it to properly remember. When they reach the lobby, Nyma waves as she walks out, Keith nodding numbly as he shuffles out. 

 

He nearly gets spotted by Allura and Shiro, who must’ve bolted down the stairs to try and catch him. Ducking behind a plant, he squints against the bright lights, watching as Shiro desperately looks around, Allura by his side. 

 

“He’s practically delusional, he can’t be out of his room like this!” Shiro says into his phone. Keith has a feeling he’s talking to either Lance or Pidge. Maybe Hunk. This means they’ll all be out searching for him.  _ Great.  _

 

Plus, he isn’t delusional. He just...sees purple cat-like things, robot lions and weird messages. There’s nothing to be worried about. He’s just sick. A bit under the weather. He’ll just go to the clinic and they’ll give him some medicine and he’ll be alright. 

 

He nearly groans as Lance and even Coran show up. He hates worrying his friends, but he really needs to do this alone. Sort of like a way to prove to himself that this isn’t as bad as he thinks it is. After a couple minutes, Pidge and Hunk show up. The group talks for awhile before splitting up in different directions. 

 

Keith hides perfectly between the wall and the giant potted plant, sinking down to the ground. Hunk passes right by him, going to the stairwell. He holds his breath until he’s out of sight. He looks around, waiting for the right moment. His eyes lock onto the front desk, causing him to frown. Sitting there is a small toy...castle? Thing? Space ship? It looks like something a kid would own. When he shakes his head, he finds that it’s actually a plastic holder for pamphlets. He should really get his vision checked out. 

 

Once the coast is clear, Keith heaves himself up, blinking until he can see properly. He doesn’t have time to think about the things he’s seeing, because he needs to slip away as quickly as possible before one of his friends catch him.

 

He rubs his forehead, walking outside. He nearly screams as he sees Shiro and Lance right outside the door, looking in the opposite direction. Swiftly, he slides on his knees, hiding behind a car. It’s kind of dangerous since he’s partly in the road, but it’s not like a car will swerve and hit him. 

 

He patiently waits for them to leave, which takes awhile. He  _ does  _ hear some interesting stuff, however. 

 

“He may not be sick,” Shiro says, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Lance looks at him as if he’s grown another head.

 

“Then what? What is it?”

 

Shiro sighs heavily, looking away. “There’s two things Allura said could be the problem.”

 

Lance narrow his eyes, raising an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

 

“Either it could be a mental illness, something like schizophrenia, or…” Shiro hesitates, refusing to meet Lance’s intense gaze. “Or he could be doing some sort of drug.” 

 

Keith, outraged, jumps to his feet at the accusation.  _ Drugs?! _ Do his friends really think so lowly of him? He...he would  _ never _ ! He would also know if he had some sort of mental illness. Which, by the way, he doesn’t. 

 

“I  _ don’t  _ do drugs!” He snaps, realizing his mistake the moment Shiro and Lance turn their shocked gazes to him. That’s right. He’s supposed to be hiding. 

 

“Keith, what the hell?!” Lance hisses, sighing in relief. “You worried everyone!”

 

Keith raises a hand, going to speak, only to fall short. He  _ does  _ feel bad about that. His vision suddenly decides to swim again, and he has to blink rapidly to not fall over. Placing his hand on the car’s surface, he narrows his eyes. “I-I’m  _ fine _ ,” he mumbles, rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand. “I just-- I have to prove that I’m fine, so just let me go to the clinic alone, please?”

 

Shiro’s eyes soften. He crosses his arms. “It’s okay to accept help, Keith, you can trust us.”

 

“I  _ do  _ trust you guys!”

 

“Then why did you run off?” Lance asks, frowning. 

 

“I told you, so I could--” He cuts himself off, choking back the bile that stings in the back of his throat. “I  _ need  _ to be okay.”

 

Lance hesitates before stepping forward, gently grabbing the sleeve of Keith’s jacket-- he can’t help but smile a little once he realizes it's his own jacket-- and tugs him out of the street. “It’s okay if there’s something wrong, Keith, because we’re going to help you.”

 

Keith opens his mouth to argue, only for him to gasp, wrapping his arms around his stomach. He stumbles to the side, everything swimming in front of him.

 

_ Keith _

 

He looks up, grunting as he trips over his own two feet. Lance catches him, arms sliding securely around him, mumbling his name and reassurances under his breath. Keith furrows his eyebrows. He knows Lance’s voice, and that  _ wasn’t  _ Lance’s voice.

 

_ \--ith--up--com-- _

 

His gaze slides over to Shiro, blinking slowly. That’s not his voice, either.  He  _ knows  _ that voice, it sounds way too familiar...so why can’t he place it?

 

_ Keith. Come On. _

 

He clutches onto Lance’s arms, looking around in panic. That voice, he knows it,  _ where is it coming from?!  _ He squeezes his eyes close, trying to focus on where it’s coming from. 

 

His head. 

 

It’s coming--

 

_ Keith. _

 

\--from his head?

 

Snapping his eyes open, Keith lets out a shaky breath. 

 

He’s not in the middle of the sidewalk anymore, wrapped in Lance’s arms. Instead, he leans heavily against a stone cold wall, darkness surrounding him. 

 

_ Keith? _

 

Grunting in pain, Keith clears his throat. 

 

“Yeah, I hear you,” he wheezes, not daring to look down at his injury. “I’m back, Red,” he whispers, looking toward the closed door of his cell. 

  
He needs to get out of here as fast as possible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo y'all should tell me if you guessed it or not 
> 
> Tumblr; alien-space-mom


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to Waving Through a Window from the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack on repeat throughout this process I can't stop listening to it pls send help 
> 
> Also warning that there's some description of injury? I, personally, don't think it's too bad but I could be wrong?? So, just in case...yeah. That's there.

He doesn’t want to move. Moving, he knows, will send pain through his body, and he’s really not feeling up for that. He already has a feeling about what's wrong with him, and one look down at his stomach proves his suspicions. 

 

There’s a stab wound, obviously. It doesn't pierce all the way through his body, but it does look pretty deep. With one look he can tell it’s infected. Inhaling shakily, Keith looks around the dark room. He needs to get a move on, but...if he moves, it might open the wound. If he moves, it’ll just bring him pain and...he just...wants to close his eyes and go back to that other world. 

 

Blinking, a surprised laugh slips passed his lips. That world  _ isn’t real. _ It was a hallucination, something to keep him from fighting back and from trying to escape. He’s not sure _how_ he hallucinated so badly, but he has a suspicion. Slowly looking down at his arm, he feels his heartbeat pick up. There’s little holes running up and down his arm, obviously from someone stabbing a needle recklessly into his skin. He wants to cry, because that means he’s been drugged up this whole time. That explains it. 

 

Red has been trying to yank him back to reality this whole time. God, his lion is the best and he truly doesn’t deserve her. 

 

_ Damn right you don’t.  _

 

Keith shakes his head, chuckling weakly. He places a hand against the wall, grunting as he forces himself to his feet. His stomach grumbles, causing him to sigh once again. When was the last time he actually ate? Now that he thinks about it, how long has he been in here?

 

Why did the drug wear off?

 

Eyes widening, he jerks his head up, jaw dropping slightly. There’s only one reason why they wouldn’t check up on him-- the red paladin, part of voltron...they wouldn’t stop checking up on him if there wasn’t something happening. 

 

Clearing his throat, he stumbles to the door, hand covering his wound. “Red?” He croaks, voice hoarse and scratchy. He really could use some fucking water. “A-are you okay? Are there intruders on the ship?”

 

His mind is silent, causing panic to flicker through his veins. He moves cautiously against the wall, his hand searching for an escape. It hits something metal and bumpy. An air vent. Removing his other hand from his injury, he places both hands on the rectangular piece of metal. He pulls, crying out as pain pulses through his abdomen. He shakes his head. Grits his teeth. He needs to overcome this stupid pain, because what if Red is hurt? What if they’re hurting her? He can’t just stay still while the stupid fucking galra hurt his lion. 

 

The vent creaks, the metal bending. It must be old, because one kick to it sends it caving in. His arm pulses with pain from the multiple needle wounds, but he ignores it as he moves his hands around the vent. It’s big enough for him to squeeze in and crawl. It’ll hurt his stomach even more, but...he  _ needs  _ to do it. 

 

Gritting his teeth, Keith places his palms onto the metal ground, vision swimming. This is by far the dumbest thing he’s ever done, but it needs to be done so he can’t complain. He reasons that maybe he should stay behind and wait for someone to break into his cell and save him, but he has no idea if anyone is even coming to get him. 

 

He pauses, halfway into the vent. What if no one is coming for him? What if the team gave up on him? How...how long has he even been in this place? Oh, god, what if he’s being used as a trap? If that’s the case, then he really hopes the rest of the team doesn’t come for him. If they don’t come, then they won’t get hurt, they won’t have a possibility of dying…

 

If they don’t come, then _he_ becomes useless. He’ll be thrown away and killed. Somehow, Keith finds that he’s okay with that. As long as the others are okay. At the same time, he knows they won’t truly give up on him. Lance...what they have, he wouldn’t throw that away. Days and nights of talking and laughing and being together...there’s no way Lance would let Keith die without trying to do something. 

 

And Shiro, who is like a big brother to him. Shiro told him he won’t let anyone on his team die, that he'll try his best to not lose another teammate no matter what, and Keith believes him. 

  
There’s also Pidge and Hunk. Allura and Coran. Surprisingly, they get along. They’ve all formed a bond, and they’re all friends and...and....he likes to believe they would try their hardest to help him. No, he  _ knows  _ they’ll try their hardest to try and save him. It’s taken him so long to accept that people can care for him, that people actually like him and want him around. That people won’t just leave him. He’s not about to let this situation ruin that mindset.

 

Crawling through the vents, Keith bites down so hard on his bottom lip as he feels his stomach wound open up that he tastes blood. He knows reopening a wound is bad, but reopening one that’s infected? That has to be worse. Plus, he’s feeling woozy and weak, and suddenly all he wants to do is give up...but then he hears Red again. 

 

_ Your friends took me.  _

 

Keith, from somewhere up in this spaceship’s vents, feels like he could burst into tears again. They came, and they saved Red. 

 

_ They’re looking for you.  _

 

Keith nods, choking out an okay. If he could, he would tell Red where he is...but alas, he has no fucking clue. Suddenly, he sees light in the distance, so with a heavy sigh, he crawls until he reaches it. Looking down, he sees an empty hallway. Well,  _ almost  _ empty. There’s a single galra soldier checking all the rooms, but it’s  _ only  _ one soldier. Keith can take out one guy even in the state he’s in. 

 

Turning around so he can sit down, head ducked so he doesn’t hit it against the ceiling, he lifts his leg and kicks. The cover wobbles, then falls, crashing to the ground. Panting from the sudden movement, Keith risks a look down at his wound. He’s bleeding pretty badly now. 

 

The galra soldier makes a noise of surprise, moving to take a look. Right as he gets in sight, Keith drops, landing right on top of him. They both go tumbling to the ground, Keith hitting his head violently against the floor. Groaning, he rolls over, black dots invading his vision. Luck seems to be on his side, somehow, because when he stumbles to his feet, he finds the soldier knocked out. 

 

Blinking the black dots away and swiping the gun from the fallen soldier, he limps his way down the hallway, leaving drops of his blood in his wake. He can feel himself slowly weakening, and he knows he won’t be able to go on for much longer, but he needs to just...find his friends. 

 

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he pants as he looks around. Would it matter if he died? Red can get a new paladin. Lance can move on. They can  _ all  _ move on. He’s...he’s nothing special. He has no one waiting for him back at Earth. He has no family. Scowling, Keith shakes his head harshly, only to regret it as it causes his head to pound violently in pain. The team  _ is  _ his family. They’re waiting for him. He can’t...he _can’t_ die. 

 

“There!” A voice calls out. Keith weakly lifts his gaze, the gun being held weakly in his grasp. A group of galra soldiers charge, and Keith can’t help but laugh weakly at the sight. He’s so so tired, and his head  _ really  _ hurts. 

 

Lifting the gun, he wills his vision to stop swirling so that he can focus. It doesn’t seem to want to work with him, so he blindly shoots, hoping he’ll hit something. 

 

It works, somewhat, at least. But then he feels something pierce his shoulder, and he grunts, gasping as something collides with his stomach. Vaguely, he realizes he’s been shot in the shoulder, and then punched in the gut. He falls to the ground, wanting to scream, because he knows he’s  _ close _ , _ so close _ to getting back to his family...he just….needs to get back up...but he’s surrounded. 

 

Closing his eyes, he lets himself collapse against the ground. It’ll be okay. They have Red, and in the end, Red is more important. He feels the galra soldier who tackled him roughly move him around, tying his arms behind his back. 

 

Before he can even think of doing anything, he hears a shout, and then there’s chaos. 

 

“Keith?”

 

“Oh my god, you  _ found  _ him?!”

  
“He’s about to pass out, I can’t carry him!”

 

“I’m right around the corner, hold on.”

 

Keith slowly peels his eyes open, green instantly filling his vision. He squints, lifting his gaze to the worried, wide brown eyes that belong to Pidge. 

 

“Pidge…?”

 

Pidge sighs in relief, eyes filling with unshed tears. “Oh, thank god you’re okay. Just stay awake for a little while longer, alright? Lance is on his way, and he’ll carry you back.”

 

Keith tries to speak, but only a strangled noise escapes his lips. Pidge pulls her lip in between her teeth, nervously biting down. She hesitates as she lifts her hands, swiftly undoing the cuffs around his wrists. She then gently turns him onto his back so she can see how badly his injuries really are. She doesn’t see his arm, not until Lance turns the corner, sliding on his knees as he reaches them. 

 

He instantly gathers Keith into his arms, openly crying as he stands up, holding Keith bridal style. If he was able to talk, he would most likely make some surprised comment about Lance being able to carry him. Instead, he decides to go limp in Lance’s arms, sighing softly in relief. Keith’s arm weakly hangs out in the open, Pidge’s eyes falling onto the multiple small wounds. Her eyes darken in anger, teeth grinding together. 

 

“Shiro, we got him,” Pidge says, shoulders shaking as she realizes what they’ve done to him.

 

“Okay, good, get back to the castle quickly.”

 

Keith whines as Lance starts to run, his side screaming in protest. Lance whispers an apology, carefully shifting Keith around until he’s in a position where his wound won’t rub against his armor. He barely registers Lance going into his lion and setting him down gently. He leans against the metal that belongs to the lion, panting as he tries to keep his pain at bay. 

 

“You can’t hear her, but Blue is purring. She’s trying to comfort you.”   
  
Keith smiles weakly at that, lifting a shaky hand to pat the metal. He mumbles out a small thanks, Lance chuckling in the background. 

 

“She said it’s no problem.”

 

He feels Lance pilot the lion into the air, the ride just a bit bumpy. He sighs in relief once the lion lands, signalling that they’re back in the castle. Lance turns around, tugging his helmet off, blue eyes wide as he carefully picks Keith up. 

 

He’s slow getting off, not wanting to move Keith too suddenly. Right as he gets off, he’s surrounded by the rest of the team. They all look worried, but Keith...is just happy to see that they’re all okay. 

 

“Red?” He croaks, causing Lance to huff. Of course Keith asks about his lion first. 

 

“She’s safe, don’t worry,” Hunk says, giving Keith a thumbs up. “We’re gonna fix her up so that she’s all nice and clean for when you get better.”   
  
Keith hums at that, leaning his head against Lance’s chest. It’s uncomfortable from the armor, but he doesn’t care, because he’s just... _so tired._

 

“Hey,” Lance says, panicked. “Don’t fall asleep, not yet!” 

 

Keith tries to mutter some reply, but fails. It’s too hard to speak. He hears Lance talking to him, and Shiro and Hunk’s voices join in, but he tunes them out. He thinks he’s pried away from Lance’s warmth, given to Coran. Something about the healing pods. 

  
He doesn’t hear much more after that, just feels himself being carried down a long hallway. Then he’s out like a light, and this time, there is no fake world. There is no dream. There’s nothing but darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...next chapter will be the end? Either that, or they'll be two more chapters. Depends on if I decide to post the chapter that shows what happened and how Keith got captured but idk if that'd be interesting so I may just write him waking up and end it there /: 
> 
> Tumblr; alien-space-mom


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the flashback chapter, in case it's not obvious...so ye

The plan should’ve been simple, really. Get in, get the information, save the prisoners. A mission they’ve done  _ countless  _ times before  _ Of course _ nothing  _ ever _ goes according to plan. 

 

Lance kneels behind the wall, gun raised as he stares down the hallway. Glancing away, he looks at Pidge. “You almost done?”

 

“87%, almost there,” she mumbles, fingers flying across the keyboard. Lance hums in reply, turning his gaze back down the hallway. He curses as a soldier comes casually walking down. The galra freezes, eyes wide, but Lance quickly shoots before he can call for help. Of course, the sound of his gun going off attracts more of them, and it makes another soldier stumble over. 

 

The soldier dodges Lance’s next shot, calling for backup. They were  _ so close. _

 

“Pidge,” he warns. 

 

“94%!” She calls. 

 

Lance nods, as though she’s even paying attention, and turns back to the onslaught of soldiers coming down the hallway. It’s not every day the paladins of voltron come and invade your ship. Any galra soldier would jump at the chance to capture one of them and lead them to the hands of Zarkon and blah blah Lance has heard this many times before. 

 

“Shiro, we could use some backup!” Lance says with urgency, standing up as more soldiers come into sight. 

 

“On my way,” Shiro says. 

 

Lance takes a glance over his shoulder again, stepping in front of where Pidge is. Like hell he’d leave her defenseless. “How much more?!”

 

“98...99…”

 

Shiro rounds the corner the moment a glara soldier fires at Lance. He quickly dodges it, but notices the shot heading straight for Pidge a moment too late. He calls out, throwing himself over the small control panel to quickly wrap his arms around her, the shot hitting him instead. He stumbles to the side, hold loosening on Pidge as he gasps in pain. 

 

“..1-100…” Pidge chokes out, eyes wide. She quickly grabs Lance’s shoulders, looking at the wound in his side. Her wide gaze turns to Shiro. 

 

Shiro nods, swallowing down his own panic, quickly making his way through the crowd. It takes a lot of effort, but he ends up getting there. He instantly wraps his arm around Lance, supporting him and helping him walk. Pidge grabs the information she collected, moving to the front of the group. Lance, though injured, still raises his arm to fire off some shots. 

 

“Hunk?” Shiro asks, holding his breath. He hopes they didn’t run into too much trouble, because now there’s no way any of them can find them to help now. 

 

There’s a crackle, and then Hunk’s voice comes through. 

 

“We’re fine, just getting the rest of the prisoners,” Hunk says. Shiro nods even though Hunk can’ see him, quickly telling him to get to their lions and back to the castle as fast as possible. 

 

Hunk turns to Keith, who is standing at the back of the small group, making sure no one can surprise attack them from the back. “Hey, we need to hurry and leave, like,  _ now _ .”

 

Keith looks up, jerking his head into a nod. He lifts his bayard, eyes sharp as he looks for galra soldiers. The group of prisoners isn’t big, only consisting of about seven different aliens. The thing that really made Hunk and Keith want to stab something was that there was a child. A  _ child _ . In prison. And for what? Most likely nothing. 

 

Keith looks down at said child, who is clinging to its mother’s arm, lip wobbling as it sniffles and tries to keep in step with its parents. Keith can’t help but smile. The kid will be safe soon, and so will the rest of these innocent aliens. 

 

“Keith,” Hunk’s panicked voice calls out. Keith whips around, instantly holding up his shield. 

 

“Hunk, get them to your lion!” Keith shouts, keeping his shield up. 

 

Hunk hesitates before turning around, leading the aliens toward his lion. The yellow lion has more space inside, and Hunk is a smoother flier (less reckless, Lance always says), so it’s better if they escape using his.    
  


When they reach where the two lions are, Hunk nearly curses as he sees the hoard of galra soldiers waiting for them. He turns to the prisoners, gun in hands. “Into the lion, quickly!”

 

The group looks startled for a moment before racing toward their safety. The yellow lion easily lets them inside, patiently waiting for Hunk to come to her as well. Hunk gently assures her that he’ll be there soon, turning around to make sure Keith is safe as well. 

 

The red paladin jogs into the room, shield up. He nods to Hunk, swiftly attacking the nearest soldier.

 

“Hunk, take them to safety!”

 

“I can’t leave you!” He says back, firing off some shots to the group of soldiers advancing on them. The galra are relentless, somehow, and keep doubling in numbers. It’s very annoying and tiring. 

 

“Hunk,” Keith snaps, not looking toward him, but instead looking toward his lion. “It’ll be fine, just go.”

 

Before he can reply, Allura’s voice cuts into the com, voice urgent. “Paladins, get back to the castle,  _ now _ ! We need to get out of here quickly, and I can’t keep the wormhole open forever!”

 

Hunk fires off a couple more rounds, backing away toward his own lion as he listens to Allura’s warning. “You promise to be right behind me?”

 

“Of course, just get them to the castle, I got your back.”

 

Hunk turns around, trusting Keith. He disappears into the mouth of his lion, his head filling with her purr as he maneuvers around the aliens. Sitting down in his seat, he glances behind to the aliens to make sure they’re all safe. “It’s gonna be a bit bumpy, so just stick with me for awhile longer, alright?”

 

He doesn’t wait for them to answer, and instead turns back to his controls. In a mere few seconds, he’s up in the air, flying toward the castle. Pidge comes as backup, sticking by his side as they make their way to the castle. He doesn’t see the blue or black lion, which he would question about if he wasn’t in a hurry. 

 

He makes it safely into the hangar, sighing in relief. He pats the side of his lion gently, cooing praises as the aliens make their way off. Once he deems it safe enough, Hunk rises to his feet, swiftly making his way off his lion. He meets Pidge outside. 

 

“Where’s Lance? Shiro? Is Keith back?”

 

Pidge sighs, taking her helmet off, her hair a mess. “Lance got injured, so Shiro took him to the cryopods. And what about Keith? Isn’t he supposed to be right behind you?”

 

As if Keith could hear her, his voice sounds from their helmets. She quickly puts it to her ear, listening closely. 

 

Allura cuts him off without meaning to. 

 

“Is everyone on? We need to leave right now!”

 

“--ing to make it. Tell Lance I’m sorry, and Hunk? I’m sorry for breaking my promise to you.”

 

“What?” Hunk says, looking at Pidge with wide eyes. “Keith, buddy, that’s funny. This is a joke, right? Come on.”

 

They both wait, staring at each other as they wait for Keith to reply. All they hear is an explosion, and then they’re off, disappearing into the wormhole.

 

* * *

 

Keith grunts, bayard flying out of his hands. Well, shit. Looking up, he watches Hunk make his escape. Sighing in relief, he crouches down, dodging a hit. He then kicks his legs out, sliding on the ground to dodge another attack. If he could just get to Red, then this would be  _ much  _ easier, but of course she’s too far away. 

 

He stands up right before a soldier can step on him, and he swings his arm out, hitting his gut with his elbow. The galara soldier chokes out some noise, not able to lift a hand before Keith kicks his legs out from under him. Keith then turns around, making his way to his bayard. He gets close, so  _ fucking close, _ when a soldier comes from seemingly nowhere. He ducks under the guy's arm, sliding on his knees to swipe his weapon up, but then it’s kicked away. 

 

Cursing, he heaves himself back onto his feet, panting heavily. He wipes sweat off his forehead, bending backward to dodge a punch. He’s not sure why this soldier doesn’t have a gun. 

 

Throwing his leg out, he kicks the soldier’s side, knocking him into another soldier. He then turns around, full on intending to get his weapon, but then a gasp escapes his lips, pain flickering through his veins. Looking down at the knife in his abdomen, he blinks slowly, trailing his gaze up to the soldier. 

 

He smirks, yellow eyes wide with victory as he yanks his knife back. Keith coughs, stumbling back a couple steps, placing a hand to his side. 

 

“I’m not going to make it,” he wheezes out, not registering that Allura was trying to speak as well. “Tell Lance I’m sorry,” he pants, backing up away from the soldiers. “And Hunk? I’m sorry for breaking my promise to you.”

 

Right as the words leave his lips, there’s an explosion. He yelps as he’s thrown back against a wall, ears ringing violently. He’s lucky the explosion didn’t hit him and that it was only the backlash. He’s not sure he’ll ever get lucky like that again. If he could even call something like this luck. 

 

Looking up, he places his hand back to his wound, looking over at Red. The explosion makes sense now. She’s not looking too good, he thinks as he squints over at her. He watches as her particle barrier flickers up, protecting her from any other attacks. 

 

Vision swimming and side burning, Keith looks down at his stomach. It doesn’t look too good. Leaning his head back, he watches as the galra walk up to him. 

 

Closing his eyes, he lets himself drift away. 

 

* * *

 

Lance stands there with disbelief plastered to his face. “You left him?”

 

“N-no--I-”

 

“Lance,” Shiro says calmly, placing a hand to his shoulder. “Keith made him leave, for the prisoners.”

 

Lance sighs shakily, nodding. “Y-you’re right, sorry Hunk,” he says, slowly sitting down. After being in the cryopod for a whole day, he collapsed right on top of Pidge and got kneed in the gut from her in surprise, and then was lifted into Hunk’s arms, getting a huge hug. 

 

Then, Coran decided to be the one to tell him what happened. He was about to ask where Keith was, but Coran must’ve saw that coming. 

 

Lance, obviously, did not take it well. He hates accusing Hunk of things, especially when Hunk is so obviously not at fault. His anger, though, does stupid things. 

 

“It’s okay, man,” Hunk says gently, sitting beside him. “We all miss him, and we’re trying to find him.”

 

Allura pipes up at that. “We’re bringing the ones we saved to a safe planet first, though we are already searching for the ship.”

 

Lance nods numbly, blinking slowly. There’s a very tense and awkward silence, as if they’re waiting to see what he’ll do. 

 

Clearing his throat, Lance looks up with a shaky grin. “W-well, let's get those prisoners to safety, yeah?”

 

* * *

 

The first day is filled with silence. He gets a piece of moldy alien stuff and some water filled with mud-- or what he assumes is mud. After that, he’s left alone for the rest of the day. 

 

He takes advantage of that, moving around blindly through the room. His hands run into a dip in the wall, and with closer inspection, he finds it’s a door. Placing a hand to his side, he narrows his eyes. There’s only one option from here on out. 

 

He stands by the door the whole time he waits. He’s not sure if it’s hours later or even a day later. 

 

When the door slides open, a soldier holding a tray of molding alien food enters. Keith doesn’t hesitate to punch him. His fist connects with his jaw, sending him stumbling back. Before he can get to his senses, Keith grunts, sweeping his leg out to kick the guy's feet from under him. 

 

The guy goes crashing to the ground, Keith kicking him one last time before racing out of the cell. Panting, he bites down on his bottom lip, willing the pain to stay away for awhile longer. If he can get to Red, then he can get her to lower her force field, and then she can take him….to wherever the other paladins are. He doesn’t care how long it takes, anywhere would be better than here. 

 

He doesn’t get far. When he rounds a corner, there’s already a group of galra soldiers lying in wait for him. Without his bayard or shield, he already knows he’s in trouble and outnumbered. Not to mention the fact that he’s bleeding from both shoulder and side, and that his head is pounding like crazy. Still, anything is better than bleeding out in a pitch black cell, so he takes a deep breath before charging. 

 

He knew it wouldn’t work. He took out maybe four of them with just hand-to-hand combat before someone whacked him over the head, sending his mind wheeling before he falls to the ground in a heap of pain. 

 

Their leader is the one to step up to him, dragging him back to the cell with little to no care. He carelessly tosses him back in, Keith’s back hitting the wall with a thud. Through his swirling vision, he watches as the boss kneels in front of him, needle in hand. 

 

“This should keep you out of commission well until your little friends come to retrieve you,” he says under his breath. He grabs Keith’s arm, tearing away the armor there so that he can stick the needle into his arm. He injects the drug straight into his system, a grin curling on the edge of his lips. 

 

Keith can’t even utter a single word before his world fades away, body relaxing against the wall. 

 

* * *

 

Lance stands beside Pidge, watching as the aliens make their way off the castle. He refuses to look anywhere but at the ex-prisoners, because when he looks up, he’ll notice the missing red paladin. 

 

The little alien kid that they had saved suddenly veers over to them, wide eyes looking up at Pidge and Lance. 

 

“Where’s the red one?”   
  
Lance wants to walk away. He doesn’t want to speak to this little kid, even though it would be rude to walk away. Instead, he lets his gaze drift to the side, choosing to stay quiet for once. Pidge, thankfully, takes the lead on this one. 

 

“He’s not feeling too well, so he stayed back.”   
  
The alien nods slowly, offering up a small smile. “Can you thank him for me? The yellow one and him saved me and my mom!”

 

Lance grits his teeth, sighing heavily. 

 

“Yes, of course we will.” Pidge says, giving the small thing a soft smile. The kid bashfully ducks it’s head before scurrying away towards its mother. 

 

There’s a moment where it’s just tense and awkward silence. Then, Pidge hesitantly lifts a hand, patting Lance’s arm. “We’re going to find him, Coran has been looking nonstop.”

 

Lance looks at her with sad eyes, but smiles anyway. “I know, and I know this isn’t only hard on me, it’s just….”

 

“I don’t want to hear any sappy stuff, please.”

 

Lance laughs at that, the sound causing Pidge to relax a bit. “Alright, no sappy stuff.”

 

* * *

 

The next week is full of anxious energy. Shiro basically locks himself in the training room, Hunk continuously bakes or helps Pidge down in the hangar, Pidge basically lives in her lion now, and Lance just kind of floats around the castle, the days blurring together. If Keith were there, then Shiro wouldn’t be stressing out, Pidge would actually try to get some sleep, Hunk would take it easy, and Lance wouldn’t feel so lost. 

 

Allura isn’t any better, though. It’s obvious she kind of blames herself for not being able to keep the wormhole open for much longer. Coran sticks by her side the whole week, both of them trying to find the ship. From the information Pidge got, they know where the ship was before they left. Once they went back to the same spot, they found the ship gone, having moved on. 

 

It's on the fifth day when Lance finally visits Blue again. He wishes he had done it sooner, because the moment he gets close, she tells him that she can connect to Red and help find their location. He’s pissed for all of five seconds until he realizes he’s been ignoring her this whole time, and that if anything, it’s his fault for not asking if she could help and for not coming to visit her. 

  
He thanks her, promises to check up on her later, and races off to go inform Allura. 

 

“What?” Shiro says, blinking in surprise. “Why didn’t the other lions tell us they could help?”

 

Lance shrugs at that, nervously biting on his lip. Allura places a hand to his shoulder, assuring him that they’ll place in the coordinates that Blue gave him.

 

After that, everything gets easier. It takes a whole day to track down the ship and to make a plan, and the day after that, they have the ship in their sights. 

 

“Alright,” Shiro says, grabbing his helmet. “Let’s get our friend back.”

 

* * *

 

Hunk is the first to go, creating a path for Pidge and Lance. Pidge easily uses the invisibility her lion provides to make a distraction. Once landing on the ship, Lance and Pidge split up, going in opposite directions. Shiro and Hunk take to staying outside the galra ship, keeping the green and blue lions safe and making sure nothing attacks the castle. 

 

It’s not too long after that that Pidge finds Keith. She’s so shocked by the state she finds him in, but quickly masks it as she takes down the group of galra as quickly as possible. Falling to her knees, she takes a moment to look over him. Slowly moving him onto his back, she inspects his wound, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. It doesn’t look good. 

 

She hears herself speaking, but she doesn’t know what she says. All she sees are the wounds and the blood and her friend practically dying in front of her. 

 

Luckily, Lance is there quickly, taking care of Keith. Her eyes instantly zero in on his arm, her heart skipping a beat.

 

The  _ drugged _ him. 

 

Eyes narrowing in anger, she takes a deep breath before rising to her feet. “Shiro, we got him.”

 

She tunes Shiro out, choosing to keep her gaze glued to Keith. Lance is not being subtle about his emotions, openly crying as he whispers apologies to the injured paladin. The split off after awhile, going to their separate lions. 

 

Hunk takes the front, Pidge the back. They work together to fight off the other ships, quickly making their way back to the castle. She takes a moment to stay in her lion, letting her purr calm her down before exiting. 

 

She reaches the group as Keith mumbles something about Red. She wants to flee, because seeing one of her friends look so weak and pale sends her pulse racing. She keeps her face blank, though, watching as Coran gently takes a now passed out Keith from a sobbing Lance. Hunk moves slightly, wrapping an arm around Lance and carefully leading him away to get something to eat. 

 

Allura looks conflicted, hesitating before she looks at Shiro. She opens her mouth, then closes it, nodding a goodbye before she turns on her heel and walks after Coran. 

 

Shiro watches her go before turning to Pidge. “Are you okay?”

 

Pidge forces a smile onto her face, nodding. She’ll be fine when she sees that Keith is okay, when Lance actually smiles for real, when Hunk gets a good night's sleep, and when Shiro stops hiding away in the training room. Of course when she gets some sleep, too.

 

“I’m just tired.”

 

Shiro nods, reaching out to ruffle her already messed up hair. “Don’t stay up too late, alright?”

 

Pidge rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, dad.”

 

Shiro sighs at that, but smiles as he waves a goodbye. Pidge turns around once he disappears down the hallway, climbing back up into her lion. 

  
She spends the night in there, hoping that everyone will be better in the morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I need to work on my action and fighting scenes,,so I hope that wasn't too bad


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ao3 says I posted this on the 9?? It's the 27th..... Dang. This is the fastest I've ever written anything tbh.

Keith feels himself falling. He doesn’t register what’s happening until warm arms slide around his cold body. He instantly gasps, eyes sliding open, looking up to meet wide blue ones. 

 

“Ke-”

 

Keith jerks back, eyes widening. He stumbles back in shock, different voices blurring together as he trips over his own two feet. He falls backward, back crashing against the cryopod. He takes a shaky breath, sliding down until he can sit on the ground. His hands instantly go to tangle in his long hair, heart pounding a mile a minute. 

 

“Keith?” 

 

He squeezes his eyes closed, trying to will the voices away. He remembers escaping through the vent, and falling...hitting his head...Pidge, then Lance...the blue lion...getting back...Hunk was there at some point, wasn't he? And Shiro? 

 

What if this isn’t real, though? What if this is another world that his mind is making up, just like that other one?    
  


“Keith.” 

 

Jerking his head up, he looks at the array of concerned looks. He takes a calming breath, gently tugging at his hair, the pain somehow grounding him for a  moment. He just needs to clear his head and let himself relax. 

 

“I--I’m fine,” he chokes out, placing a hand to his head. 

 

Shiro comes into view, carefully kneeling beside Keith. He places a hand to Keith’s shoulder, a frown flickering across his face as Keith flinches. “Are you sure? Does anything hurt?”

 

Keith shrugs his hand away, shrinking in on himself. “I’m fine, Shiro.”

 

“It may be the the aftereffects of the drug,” Allura suddenly supplies, placing her hands behind her back. “It altered reality for him, and if what Coran saw is true, then it’s a very strong drug. It must've really messed up his head, especially since the drug isn’t meant for humans in the first place.”

 

Keith pulls his knees up against his chest, arms looping around his legs. He leans his head down, letting it rest against his knees. He can feel their pity boring holes into the side of his head. They continue to speak, talking as if he can’t hear them. 

 

“He may have what you humans call withdrawal syndrome. Coran is working on some things to help him, but for the time being, please be gentle with him and excuse any strange behavior he has toward you.”

 

“Maybe we should leave him alone?” Hunk suggests. “Go get him some food? Let him have some space?”

 

Keith lifts his head as they all agree, making a move to leave. Without thinking, he lunges forward, fingers curling around Lance’s wrist. He makes a small noise of surprise, blue eyes sliding down to where Keith is kneeling on the ground. 

 

Refusing to meet his gaze, Keith exhales shakily. “P-Please, don’t...don’t leave me alone. I can’t...I don’t want to be…” he trails off, neck heating up with embarrassment. 

 

An easy smile crosses Lance’s face. “Of course, man, of course,” he says softly, turning to nod at the others as they filter out of the medbay. 

 

When they all leave, Lance leads Keith over to the bench, settling down. They sit shoulder to shoulder, Keith’s body trembling slightly as he tries to keep his emotions in check. It doesn't take long for him to reach out, fingers tangling with Lance’s, head moving to Lance’s shoulder so that he can hide his face. Lance stays quiet for once, thankfully, and shifts a bit so that he can wrap his other arm around Keith. It's a bit uncomfortable, but Lance doesn't seem to mind. 

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”   
  
Keith curls up against him more, shaking his head no. 

 

“Alright, then. We got time, so just relax, okay?”

 

Keith nods again, letting his eyes close. He relaxes into Lance’s hold, breathing becoming calmer as he slowly slips into a peaceful sleep. 

 

* * *

 

He wakes up, and this time it isn’t in some cell or in some apartment. It isn’t his normal room, either. Instead, he finds himself tangled in the blue sheets that his mind supplies as  _ Lance’s.  _

 

He slowly sits up, rubbing his forehead with a groan. Shakily rising to his feet, he places a hand to the wall to steady himself. He doesn’t know why he feels so cranky so suddenly. Maybe he just didn’t get enough sleep?

 

Shaking his head, Keith makes his way into the hallway. He narrows his eyes suspiciously once he reaches the kitchen, finding no one in sight. Sliding into the dining area, he finds a plate of space goo waiting for him on the table. But no one else is around. 

 

Stepping up to his normal chair, he slowly sits down and pulls the plate closer to him. Now that he’s sitting there and has food that _isn’t_ some moldy mush, he finds that he’s  _ starving _ . He doesn't hesitate to inhale the food, not bothering to question why it tastes a bit off. He doesn’t care, of course, because it’s heavenly compared to what he got in the cell. 

 

Pushing the plate away, he hums as he looks around the empty room. Lifting his head, he slowly looks down, lifting his shirt. There’s a scar on his side. Makes sense, since he had the wound for about a whole week before it could be properly treated. There’s even things the healing pod can’t fully heal, and he understands that. 

 

Tearing his gaze away from the scar, he places both hands in his lap, staring at the otherwise empty table. 

 

It’s him, the chairs, the now dirty plate, and the table. No one else. 

 

Panic and unease instantly sink in, and he begins to fidget nervously in his seat. Where is everyone? Why isn’t Hunk or Coran experimenting in the kitchen? Why isn’t Pidge coming in to take a break from working on who knows what? Why isn’t Shiro and Allura sitting on the couch, talking in quiet voices? He’d take any noise right now. Anything other than this deafening silence that’s slowly wrapping around him like a snake squeezing it’s prey to death. Where is Lance? Why isn’t he coming in to complain about training or to rile Keith up or to just sit next to him and enjoy each other’s company?

 

His breathing picks up, the panic settling deep within his bones. He curls in on himself, fingers twisting into his hair, pulling harshly at the locks. He tries to control his rapid breathing-- _in out, in out_ , just like Shiro taught him-- but it doesn’t work because...

 

Because what if this _isn’t real?_ What if no one is around because they aren’t real? What if his mind made all of this up to keep him from going insane? 

 

Pushing his chair back, it clambers to the floor, and he gasps out a sob as he stumbles back. Turning around, he feels the warm tears slip down his cheek and drip to the floor as he faces the door. Right as he makes a move to run, they slide open. 

 

“Keith?”

 

His mouth falls open, breathing never slowing down. He places his hands back to his head, collapsing to his knees. Tucking his chin against his chest, he breathes in and out carefully, squeezing his eyes close. 

 

A hand wraps around his wrist, gently pulling until he lets go of his hair. He takes a shuddering inhale, slowing lifting his gaze. The first thing he sees is the team in the doorway, sweaty and wearing their armor, and-- _oh._ Training. They were...yeah. That makes...a lot of sense. 

 

The next thing he sees is Lance kneeling in front of him, gently murmuring under his breath, trying to pull Keith back to reality. 

 

Slumping forward, he hides his face in the fabric of Lance’s shirt, his breathing finally evening out. Lance sighs in relief, sliding his arms securely around Keith. 

 

“I-- I thought...you guys weren’t...I was _so--_ I-- I’m sorry--”

 

Lance chuckles, rocking him back and forth. He glances up at the rest of the team, each of them looking a bit guilty. Yeah, he feels pretty bad as well. 

 

“It’s okay, Keith, you did nothing wrong. We should’ve been here when you woke up.”

 

Keith shakes his head at that. He slowly takes a deep breath, pulling back to look at Lance with a serious expression plastered to his face. “How...How do I...know this is real?”

 

Lance flinches at that, nervously biting his bottom lip. Lifting his hands, he gently places them to both of Keith’s cheeks, eyes narrowing slightly. “Keith,” he says calmly, searching for any sign of argument. “This is real, okay? I would never lie to you, _never_. Especially about something like this.”

 

Keith hesitates, nodding slowly. He then frowns. “But--”

 

“No,” Lance says gently, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. “This is real, okay? I swear.”

 

Keith finally cracks a small smile, eyes softening. “Yeah, okay. I...I believe you.”

 

* * *

 

It takes a whole two weeks for Keith to heal completely. Not only from the aches given him from his wounds, but from his supposed addiction to the strange drug he was given. It turns out Coran whipped up something to help him and mixed it in with his food, which explains the off taste of it. Keith has no complaints, though, because he can tell he is getting better. 

 

The day he gets off the medicine, he consumes the normal food goo at an alarming rate, oddly happy to have the normal space goo back. 

 

He also goes straight back to training, having lost three weeks of it. Lance and Shiro still have to pull him away from training every once and awhile, but he wishes they wouldn’t. He rather train than sleep. Sleep means nightmares and reminders of a world that doesn’t exist and it does nothing but confuse him more and more when he wakes up. 

 

The only good thing about sleeping is jerking awake, only to find Lance next to him, a constant comfort in his life. He isn’t the only comfort, of course. He finds comfort in Hunk’s hugs, Pidge’s technology nerd rambling, Coran’s stories, Shiro’s trying too hard to be funny jokes, Allura’s smiles, and even Red’s constant presence in the back of his mind. 

 

Keith knows nothing will ever truly be one hundred percent okay again. Hell, they’re in the middle of a war in _space_. No one could be fully okay with something like that always weighing down on his shoulders. The trick is finding the good things and clinging to them. 

 

Not that he’d ever say that out loud, of course. No one needs to know he relies on his team more than anything else. That would be embarrassing. 

  
Smiling to himself, Keith stares at his bayard. Things may not always be okay, but he can count of his family to always pull through for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope?? That wasn't too cheesy?? I tried so hard to not make it cheesy but all the cheese slipped through my fingers. Anyway. Thank you so much if you took the time to read this, it means a lot. It was my first Voltron fic, so I hope it isn't too bad for my first try at writing for this fandom! 
> 
> Tumblr; alien-space-mom


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